Alloy-coating process.



nnLoY-con'rme rnooass.

matter.

11o Drawing;

To all it may concern:

.Be it known that I, JAY 0. Banana, a of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in tile county and State. oi Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Alloy-Coating Processes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention proposes a method whereby a uniform and continuous alloy film of a hard, durable, physical character and of a non-corrosive and comparatively inactive chemical nature may be readily yet tenaciously applied to exposed surfaces of sheet iron, and more specifically this invention deals with the successful production as an article of manufacture of a film of hard antimony lead intimately amalgamated with commercial iron.

It is well known that ordinary commercial sheet iron is readily corrodible when exposed to outdoor atmospheric conditions and for many years various expedients have beenresorted to to protect such surfaces. Thus, during the process of finishing such sheets preparatory to their use for building purposes, they have been commonly coated with metallic tin, or when a cheaper prodnot was desired, with metallic zinc. By reason of the cost of tin plate, on the one hand, and certain unsatisfactory features of zinc plate, on the other hand, many futile attempts have heretofore been made to'coat iron successfully with other available i metals.

I have discovered a process whereby soft lead may be applied to iron in a way satisfying all commercial requirements and the product is well adapted to resist corroslon and will meet all ordinary conditions, but by reason of the very soft ductile character of lead, such product is not as wear-resisting as would be desirable for some purposes. In seeking to attain a harder surface of film, I have found that lead alloyed with from three to thirteen per cent. of

than. 4s 'lnirrl'ulv eatist'FaCtOIV and affords of molten zinc chlorid to which a l flpcclfication 0t liettcrs li aiealn Waller ,llwllw Application med January e, 1913. Serial no. manna.

ried out by preparing a melted bath of lead containing a sultable proportion of anti many, my that hill par lltlllt, aiml nun mining in said bath n small percentage of my amalgamating metal exemplified by cadmium, say from two tenths per cent to one per cent. This bath should preferably be malntamed at as low a temperature as will be consistent with complete fuslon and the iron sheets may be passed continuously through such bath. At the point of entry, it is desirable to cover the bath by a layer hydrochloric acid may be added an ILu n form a suitable flue: for the purpose olheap ing clean the bath and also chemically cleaning the iron surface and bringing it into a .condition such that it will through the further agency of the (llltl'llllllllll be per" ctly amalgamated "with the antlmun n21 l: 11h "when it is submerged therein. lit the a "A end of the bath, it is also preferable to maintain an overlying layer of palm oil preferably also submcrging and keeping clean the rollers or other means for ing off or otherwise ridding; the cute plate of unnecessary amounts of the an .1 mony lead.

While exceedingly simple this prcce most effective in attaining perfect r By increasing the amount of antimony to the eutetic proportion i. c. thirteen per cent. antimony, the melting" point rcduced to about two hundred and thirty dc grees C. or about that of tin, and this makes the use of palm oil as a supernatant exit flux particularly feasible inasmuch as its tendency to take fire is reduced to a very slight point. By adding varying amounts of antimony to a lead bath containing What I term an amalgamating element, a. e. a metal more positive than iron and yet freely miscible with lead, such as cadmium, a coat ing is obtainable quite free from pin holes and at the same time hard and durable. It is very resistant to atmospheric conditions and neither rain water, nor sulfuric acid Still 

